The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to card coupling system for an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs includes cards such as, for example, Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express Mini Cards (“Mini Cards”), that are coupled to the IHS in order to expand the functionality of the IHS. These cards may come in a plurality of form factors that can raise a number of issues when coupling a card that has a first form factor to a card connector that has a second form factor that is different than the first form factor.
For example, Mini Cards may be provided in a ‘full size’ form factor and a ‘half size’ form factor. IHSs with full size form factor card connectors must then use full size form factor Mini Cards while IHSs with half size form factor card connectors are restricted to using half size form factor Mini Cards, reducing flexibility with regard to the manufacture of these IHSs. One conventional solution is to provide half size form factor Mini Cards on a full size form factor Mini Card board that is perforated such that if the IHS includes a full size form factor card connector, the board may couple to the full size form factor card connector, while if the IHS includes a half size form factor card connector, the board may be broken along the perforation in order to allow the Mini Card to be coupled to the half size form factor card connector. However, such solutions can result in a waste of board and/or damage to the Mini Card if the perforated board is broken improperly.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved card coupling system.